Conan Acheronian Edition

Maids of Flame & Their Demonic Patroness (Defeated)

Description:

The Maids of Flame were composed from the street prostitutes of Shadizar. One among their number was the priestess, possessed by their demon god. Only she was able to cast spells and even then at a great cost to the possessed body. The demon itself was imprisoned in a Stygian urn. Without a volunteer to possess, it was only able to influence things in its immediate vicinity (in addition to typical pact benefits).

Bio:

The Maids of Flame were one of the numerous demon cults infestating Shadizar the Wicked. Members of the cult were all female prostitutes. They believed their patroness Morath-Aminee gave them protection and power to eventually rule the city. The paranoid demon was using them to protect itself from real and imaginary threats.

The heroes stumbled upon the cult by an accident. Months ago, Tyrus had inscribed the symbol of Pteion upon his shield as a personal mark of victory over the damned place. While riding through the streets of Shadizar, the symbol was spotted by one of the Maids. Morath-Aminee had apparently been brought – or escaped – from Pteion centuries ago. It was paranoid about the lost city somehow coming back to claim it. Thus it taught various signs for its slaves to look for.

Upon learning of the symbol upon the shield of Tyrus, the cult was set to eliminate the perceived enemies. Their attempts to attack the heroes were feeble at best and comical at worst. The party sent to kill them in their sleep were strangled in the corridors of the Golden Pyramid Inn. The attempt to lure them in an abandoned house and burn them inside almost succeeded, but only almost. Finally a combination of hypnotism and divination by Dionysos revealed the location of the demon itself to the heroes.

The magical defences of the demon failed to stop the determined heroes. Feng Bai carried the urn to the land of dreams. There he threw it in the dark storm near Shadizar, the dream equivalent of the caves of Azoth. Whatever darkness resides there swallowed the box and the imprisoned demon without a struggle.